Vignettes of the World
The Lovers’ Rock is rumoured to bring good luck in the love department. In this week before the Lunar New Year, I was looking for an easy trail for a much-needed walk. Since Bowen Road is in the vicinity, I thought I could also bring …
At the peak of Tai Shek Mo, of 183 meters in altitude, there are all-around views of New Territories North including that of all of Sheung Shui and much of the southern skyline of Shenzhen. Needless to say, the fish pond views of Ma Tso …
The Boston Restaurant in Wan Chai has been serving its signature dish, Beef Brochette Flambé, since 1966. Today I took a leisurely lunch there and had a delightful steak that came with amazing theatrics. The experience was really quite special.
In those pre-economic boom years in Hong Kong’s history, there was a great divide between the restaurant choices for foreigners and the local population. Boston Restaurant came into the dining scene with a pitch that meets Hong Kong’s very nature of a mixed Chinese-and-Western heritage. As one of the first three steak houses in Hong Kong, it offers diners what is known endearingly as “soy sauce western,” a spin of western cuisine with local elements.
The so-called “local elements” of Hong Kong styled western cuisine usually involves the signature butter buns, and a choice of either cream-based or minestrone soup to start.
Then comes the meaty main course and diners can choose from a selection of steak, pork chop, mixed meats and lamb chops served up on a sizzling plate. The plating was simply a few slabs of meat placed above some French fries and veggies. For decades, this was what Hong Kong people thought of as western food, and Boston Restaurant led the trend.
There are two levels at the Boston Restaurant. The ground floor is a “snack shop,” with quite an elaborate menu to order from for takeout or dine-in at the small bar stools on the same floor. The menu for this snack shop offers “specials of the day,” with dishes that are quite distinctly the “Chinese-western” kinds. There are classic choices of baked rice and spaghetti, usually coming with a generous layer of cheese to satisfy the Hong Kong diners’ expectation of slightly burned, melted cheese in all their baked dishes.
As to the restaurant upstairs, customers can either order from the lunch special or the a la carte menu. I opted for the famous Beef Brochette Flambé, which is such a signature that the restaurant owned a patent on the dish.
Photo: the Lunch Special at Boston Restaurant
The Beef Brochette Flambé adds a touch of theatrics to the common steak on sizzling hot plate. The beef comes first in a skewer. Then the waiter sets the meat on flames. The flames is induced by rose wine. Besides its dramatic visuals, this step, in its culinary intention, serves to introduce the fragrance of wine into the beef. As the meat is moved onto the sizzling hot plate, the flames catches on.
The theatrics will finish as the waiter pours the sauce over the sizzling hot plate, and you will hear the hissing of the sauce on the plate until it slowly cools. As per tradition, the sauces offered are black pepper, onion, garlic and soy based bbq. I sat there waiting, and it was with mouthwatering anticipation that I began my meal.
I dug in, and to my delight, the beef was very tender without sacrificing meatiness and juiciness. In typical local steakhouses, the chefs usually treat the meat heavily with baking soda to break down the toughness. There is no indication of such treatment in my dish because the meat had the right texture and moist. It went right through the gastronomical tract without any residue of tough, unchewable parts. There was also no visible rims of fat, unlike the standard soy sauce steaks that we get at local steakhouses. For the price (HK $190 for a set), the Beef Brochette Flambé really lives up to its name.
I finished the wonderful lunch with Hong Kong style milk tea. Usually, at “western” restaurants the milk tea offered is rarely in the traditional Hong Kong style. But surely, Boston Restaurant has that. What a pleasant surprise.
At lunch hour, a little before 1pm, I did have to wait a while, for thirty minutes or so, before being seated. The ambiance of the restaurant is clean and modern, as apparently Boston Restaurant has gone through some significant revamp of its dining space.
I do hope that Boston Restaurant continues to stand the test of time. Due to the pandemic, a number of old, well-known local steakhouses have closed down. May the memory of “soy sauce western” live on, and thrive as witness to Hong Kong’s mixed heritage.
The address for Boston Restaurant is 3 Luard Road, Wan Chai. It is across from the Southorn Playground.
Timeout.com, Boston Restaurant.
Timeout.com, Hong Kong’s Oldest Restaurants You Need to Visit.
Donna Mah, Blazes from the Past, China Daily, April 23, 2012.
Gourmet KC on Boston Restaurant (Chin).
Islam Food in Kowloon City has a long-standing presence as one of the few Islam dining establishments in Hong Kong. I finally had a chance to visit it for some of its famous dishes. And I would certainly go back for more. Some Basics about …
Perhaps a couple years ago, the government had plans to pull down the Ex-Sham Shui Po Service Reservoir. The netizens then leaked some photos of it and caused an uproar. The beautiful imitated Roman architecture fascinated the people of Hong Kong. What followed was an …
The Tsung Tsin Mission Hong Kong Kau Yan Church of Sai Ying Pun is just a stone’s throw away from the Chinese Rhenish Church. I was very much drawn to its architecture. I think it is even more beautiful than the Chinese Rhenish Church.
The Tsung Tsin Mission Hong Kong Kau Yan Church had a long history with its origin in the Basel Mission, which was a mission society of Germany and Switzerland. In 1847, the Mission sent Rev. Theodore Hamberg and Rev. Rudolf Lechler to Hong Kong. They saw the harvest in the Hakka and Chiu Chow-speaking population in Hong Kong and southern China. In 1851, they managed to set up a proper church in Sheung Wan and it was Hakka speaking. The year after in 1952, they founded a church in the current location in Sai Ying Pun. Then this building became “Sai Kok Lau.”
In 1924, the church leaders convened and established the Tsung Tsin Mission. It became one of the eight Lutheran bodies in the protestant tradition of Hong Kong. With this development there was no longer any formal relationship with the Basel Mission. In 1927, the congregation at Sai Ying Pung became fully self-governed and independently run. By this time, the Christian community that grew from the Basel Mission was already running schools and hospitals as their ministry.
In 1932, the current church building was rebuilt at the High Street location. It came to be known as Kau Yan Church (Saving Grace Church). As with most churches in Hong Kong, the Japanese Occupation years presented exceptional difficulties. When the Hong Kong Governor surrendered to the Japanese forces on Christmas Day of 1941, throngs of people, including of its own congregation and other believers and refugees, flooded to the church. There was word that the Japanese has picked the Kau Yan Church as the site for a military outpost in this area of Hong Kong. The church leaders gathered to discuss how to avoid this, and eventually negotiated with the Japanese, successfully averting this crisis. The Japanese then took over King’s College across the street for the said military outpost.
This year, the Tsung Tsin Mission Hong Kong Kau Yan Church celebrates 170 years of history.
The Sai Kok Lau underwent reconstruction, and since 1932 the current structure has stood testament to 90 years of dedication to the local Christian community. Its architecture is in the style of the Gothic Revival. According to the Wikipedia,
The (Gothic Revival) movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly serious and learned admirers of the neo-Gothic styles sought to revive medieval Gothic architecture, intending to complement or even supersede the neoclassical styles prevalent at the time. Gothic Revival draws upon features of medieval examples, including decorative patterns, finials, lancet windows, and hood moulds. By the middle of the 19th century, Gothic had become the preeminent architectural style in the Western world, only to fall out of fashion in the 1880s and early 1890s.
Gothic Revival architecture varied considerably in its faithfulness to both the ornamental style and principles of construction of its medieval original, sometimes amounting to little more than pointed window frames and touches of Gothic decoration on a building otherwise on a wholly 19th-century plan and using contemporary materials and construction methods, most notably in the use of iron and, after the 1880s, steel in ways never seen in medieval exemplars. (Wikipedia on Gothic Revival architecture)
As with all churches in Hong Kong, when commentators classify a structure to be of a given architectural style, the structure usually only shows very minimal features that meet the classification. They are simply not elaborate, century-long construction that crafts the structure as art. The churches of Hong Kong aim to serve foremost the purpose of giving a spiritual home for humble Christian communities.
In the case of the Tsung Tsin Hong Kong Kau Yan Church, the main features that are “gothic revival” are perhaps the pointed arch windows and the wide, slightly domed tops of its gateways. The clear usage of concrete as its main construction material reflects its roots as an early 20th century structure.
Because this church is actually open for public visit during non-service hours, I could take a look of the inside. The Chinese Rhenish Church, on the other hand, was closed to visitors.
The Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong Kau Yan Church received the status of Grade 3 Historic Building in 1990. In 2011, it was recognized as a Grade 1 Historic Building.
The address for the Kau Yan Church is 97A High Street, Sai Ying Pun.
The Wikipedia on Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong Kau Yan Church (Chin).
The Wikipedia on Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong.
The Wikipedia on Gothic Revival Architecture.
The Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong.
Official Website of the Tsung Tsin Mission Hong Kong Kau Yan Church, Brief History (Chin).
Hong Kong is “a dining heaven,” and the people of Hong Kong are natural epicureans. From the very basic to the very upscale, the food scene of Hong Kong is one of abundance. There is a king choice for every edible and non-edible category you …
The Story of the Chinese Rhenish Church in Hong Kong The Chinese Rhenish Church Hong Kong Synod is a protestant church of the Lutheran denomination. Originally from the Nordrhein-Westfalen region in Germany during the early 19th century, the Rhenish church’s mission arm began in Wuppertal …
We took a bus to Siena from Florence and arrived 1.5 hours later. Siena made a great first impression, but perhaps not as breathtaking as San Gimignano.
During the Middle Ages, Siena was a rival of Florence in terms of culture, commerce, art and cityscape. Like Florence, Siena was once an independent state as a republic, and the republic lasted for four hundred years between the 12th century and 1555. A long history of developed commerce made it the center of trade and finance. Siena is home to the one of the oldest banks in continuous operation in Europe, and the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena stands as the testament to this proud history.
Needless to say, the Piazza Del Campo, which is a UNESCO heritage, was the primary interest for us as first-time visitors. During the 13th century, this plaza was a marketplace. Then “it was paved in 1349 in fishbone-patterned red brick with 8 lines of travertine, which divide the piazza into 9 sections, radiating from the mouth of the gavinone (the central water drain) in front of the Palazzo Pubblico… From the piazza, eleven narrow shaded streets radiate into the city.” (Wikipedia) The nine segments represent the Government of the Nine, the seat of which was the Palazzo Pubblico right by the square.
The Piazza remains the very center of local life and international events today.
And surely, there was this incredible charm at the Piazza Del Campo. Although knowing that dining would be very expensive there, we decided to do al fresco at a café. We savored coffee and the view of the Palazzo Pubblico. There had to be enough replenishments before we climb the tower.
We were determined to climb the very tall Torre de Mangia (the Mangia Tower, meaning the “Eater’s” Tower). As compared to the Pisa Tower, the climb of the Mangia Tower was not too rigorous. There were certainly less tourists, and as much as the steps were narrow, there was no pressure to rush up. We took little breaks and many pictures on our way up.
The all-around view of Siena at the top was spectacular. Houses baked under the Tuscan sun, their colors are of Siena, a strong, rustic brown, somewhat burnt, and certainly roasted. The bricks that made up the medieval Sienese structures were products of the commune, which made sure that they met certain standards. This was what gave Sienese buildings their architectural integrity. Despite its height, at Torre de Mangia we still did not manage to take a picture that captures the whole shell-shaped piazza down below.
The sculptures on the buildings of Siena are unique. They seem to be wearing expressions of exasperation, as if they were meeting death. There is also a clear deference to animals. Of course, the most impressive image was the bronze sculpture of the Capitoline Wolf at the Palazzo Pubblico. It conveys the Roman myth of a she-wolf suckling the mythical twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.
The stone plaque is dedicated to Roman Siena and St. Catherine of Siena.
On our way to the Duomo, we bought cherry tomatoes and strawberries. They came freshly off the field. We saw the strawberry leaves slowly wilting as we ate them. What a nice taste of Italian freshness.
The Duomo is yet another display of grandeur. Its white marble façade is “clad externally with a black and white marble cladding, which references the city’s coat of arms” (Prina at 95). Not atypical of its counterparts, the Siena Cathdral underwent a century-long construction.
It was consecrated in 1179, but work continued all through the 13th century. The Bell tower was completed in 1264 (Id).
The sculptures on the façade seem more expressive than what I observed in Florence. Many of the human sculptures extend their arms, and dotted along are representations of different animals. The gothic school may have a wholly different world view when it comes down to the relationship between God, humans and religion.
As we noticed before, all the Tuscan cities had a character of its own. I still favored San Gimignano over all the others, but there was not a moment of repetitiveness in visiting each city. The decorated history of Italy has enabled an exceptional variety of experience in each of its gems.
The Wikipedia on the Piazza del Campo.
The Wikipedia on Siena.
The Wikipedia on the Capitoline Wolf.
Francesca Prina, The Story of Gothic Architecture (2011).
The medieval town of San Gimignano is a kind of place that you can fall in love with at first sight. It is not of the same grand sophistication as Florence, the city of culture. Yet San Gimignano has a long history of its own. …